Valentine's Ballet
by Songswald
Summary: Short AU oneshot in which Valentine fulfills his dream of becoming a ballerina.


Valentine takes a deep breath. It's finally here; his time has come. He stands backstage, nervously tapping his foot and making small talk with the other dancers. He goes through the moves again and again in his head, obsessing about the big twirl jump he has to do at the end. Him being the only male dancer in the troupe means that he was given the main role in a few of their dances even though he only started a few months ago. It's an amateur ballet class for adults that he first discovered while at the gym. He was refilling his water bottle when he looked up at the bulletin board to find a flyer for an amateur ballet class.

Valentine had been feeling a little bit down in the weeks before he found the flyer. It wasn't anything major, just that his life of blood and killing had gotten rather… dull. Which is why when he found the flyer he was overcome with a strange compulsion to sign up. When he was a little boy, all he wanted was to be a world class dancer. He would practice alone in his room, trying to teach himself from tapes and books. Eventually his father found out and forced him to give it up and focus more on his shadowhunter studies instead. He hadn't danced since.

But now it was his chance. It was his turn to accomplish his dream and do the thing he loved. He signed up for the class. But they weren't quite what he was expecting. Although he was a learned dancer when he was a young child, it had been years since then. Most of the people in the class had been under the tutelage of Ms. Young, their teacher, for several months at least. Fortunately, it came back to Valentine quickly and he was able to be the lead in several of the numbers they were performing tonight.

Valentine looks up to see Jocelyn approaching. She's carrying Jonathan in her arms and her belly is swollen with their second child who's due in a little over a month. When he first told her about the classes she found it borderline hilarious. In addition to not being a slight man, her husband was also a trained killer and the notion that he would want to master an art as delicate as ballet was ludicrous. But alas, when she realized he was serious she switched gears over from mocking to supportive.

"Hi," Valentine says when she gets closer.  
"Hi," she says in response, "break a leg tonight. You know we're both so proud of you."  
He hugs her and gives their baby boy an affectionate kiss on the forehead, which the young child laughs at. Valentine starts tickling Jonathan and the boy laughs even more. Finally the director tells them to get in positions and he's relinquishes Jocelyn and their son to go back to their seats.

Jonathan and Jocelyn provided as a good distraction from his nervousness but now that they're gone, it's back in full swing. He feels his stomach flip flopping. One of the other dancers, a forty year old woman named Elisabeth, assures him there's nothing to worry about. She's been dancing for a while and she still gets butterflies.

Then the curtain lifts. The crowd roars and the orchestra starts to play. Valentine and the women start their routine. It goes as planned despite Valentine constantly worrying that he's a beat behind the others. Finally, it's time for the big finale. Valentine launches himself into the air, mentally preparing for his big twirl. In those few seconds, his attention is razor sharp. It's as if time slows and he can feel exactly when he's supposed to execute each movement. He's completely at one with his body.

He lands and the crowd cheers. Jonathan and Jocelyn are in the front row and Jocelyn is hollering at the top of her lungs for him and clapping enthusiastically. He flashes her a quick smile and steps off stage.

After the performance Jocelyn meets him backstage at which time she promptly hugs him and tells him what a fabulous job he did. They briefly discuss the performance, during which a few other dancers complement him on his timing and fluidity. As they leave Jocelyn comments on how he really did seem extraordinarily graceful for only being in the class for such a short time. He can't take all the credit though; he may have used a ruin or two beforehand.


End file.
